Method and apparatus for assembling personalized electronic media into printed products

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for assembling personalized CDs, DVDs and other types of optical disks, magnetic media, and data storage devices into magazines, catalogs, pamphlets, and other printed products in order to enhance the amount and quality of personalization associated with the printed product includes reading and/or writing personalized information to/from a data storage device and assembling the data storage device within a printed product that is to be delivered to a particular individual. The reading and/or writing of personalized information may be directed to either digital information stored on the data storage device or to more conventional optical indicia that is printed on and/or optically scanned from the data storage device.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation of application Ser. No.10/747,840, filed Dec. 29, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,246,798, issuedJul. 24 2007, which is a continuation of application Ser. No.10/060,687, filed Jan. 30, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,694,219, issuedFeb. 17, 2004, which claims the benefit of provisional Application No.60/265,730, filed Feb. 1, 2001. The contents of these applications areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the production of print media such asmagazines, catalogs, pamphlets and envelopes that include electronicmedia, such as DVDs, CDs, and cards which include magnetic strips,(hereafter collectively referred to as “CDs”), and more particularly toprinted media that includes CDs with personalized information.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

“Magazine” as used herein generically refers to magazines, books,catalogs, pamphlets, envelopes and other printed materials. Magazinesare typically assembled through either conventional saddle stitch orperfect binding processes and it should be noted that the presentinvention may be used in conjunction with saddle stitch, perfectbinding, and other binding methods.

Magazine printers commonly customize magazines by including particularsignatures within a magazine based on known characteristics of therecipient. This type of customization is known in the print media asselective binding. Selective binding is done by selectively placingdesignated signatures that are stored in different hoppers along abinding line onto the binding line such that magazines are assembledusing a particular set of designated signatures based on a recipient'sprofile.

Magazine printers now go even further in that individual magazines areproduced with unique personalized information or indicia relating to themagazine's intended recipient. One of the more common ways topersonalize a magazine is to have the recipient's identity and addressinformation printed on the cover of the magazine once the magazine isassembled. Another method of personalizing magazines relates to printingpersonalized indicia onto one or more signatures before the signaturesare assembled into respective magazines. Signatures are oftenpersonalized while they are on the binding line by using an ink jetprinter positioned near the binding line. As the signatures pass the inkjet printer, personalized information or indicia is printed onto one ormore of the signatures.

As the popularity of CDs has increased, magazine printers have beguninserting CDs into magazines as part of the assembly process. Therefore,it would be desirable if the CDs could be incorporated into thepersonalization process associated with assembling magazines.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method of assembling personalized CDs,DVDs and other types of optical disks, magnetic media, and data storagedevices into magazines, catalogs, pamphlets, and other printed productsin order to enhance the amount and quality of personalization associatedwith the printed product. The method of the present invention includesreading and/or writing personalized information to/from a data storagedevice and assembling the data storage device within a printed productthat is to be delivered to a particular individual. As discussed furtherbelow, the reading and/or writing of personalized information may bedirected to either digital information stored on the data storage deviceor to more conventional optical indicia that is printed on and/oroptically scanned from the data storage device.

In one form of the invention, the personalized information is writtenonto the data storage device using a data-writing machine that may belocated at a position on or immediately adjacent to the binding line.The data-writing machine may also be part of one of the hopperspositioned along the binding line such that after the hopper writes thepersonalized information onto the data storage device, the hopperassembles the data storage device into the printed product. Once thedata storage devices are positioned within the assembled printedproducts, the printed products can be trimmed, sorted, or otherwisemanipulated as usual. It should be noted that in a selective bindingoperation, pre-personalized data storage devices can be inserted intothe printed product where some, all or none of the printed products areselectively bound without departing from the scope of the presentinvention. In addition, personalized data storage devices can be placedinside printed products that are, or are not, otherwise personalized. Asused herein, “personalized data storage device” refers to CDs, DVDs, andother digital media storage devices that have been modified to includespecialized optical indicia and/or specialized digital data.

In another form of the invention, the method of assembling the printedproduct includes reading information from a data storage device andassembling the printed product based on the information read from thedata storage device. The data storage devices are read using adata-reading machine. On bindery lines that include selective bindingcapabilities, the information retrieved from the data storage device maybe supplied to a control system that directs the selective bindingprocess. After the data storage device has been read the data storagedevice may be assembled into an appropriate printed product on thebindery line.

In yet another form of the invention, one or more data-reading machinesread personalized information from the data storage devices and thensupply the information to a control system. The control systemdetermines specific address information based on the personalizedinformation that is read from a particular data storage device. Theaddress information is delivered to a printer positioned near thebinding line such that the printer prints the address information on acover of the printed product that includes the respective data storagedevice.

One or more additional printers may also be used to print personalizedindicia that corresponds to the personalized information read from therespective data storage devices onto forms and/or preprintednon-personalized signatures. The newly personalized forms and/orsignatures are then delivered to one or more hoppers on the bindery linefor assembly into an appropriate printed product. It should be notedthat the printer could be located at an entirely different facility. Thepersonalized forms and/or signatures are inserted into an otherwisecustomized or non-customized printed product depending on the desiredfinished form of the printed product.

In still another form of the invention, the data storage devices thatinclude personalized information written thereon include personalizedindicia (e.g., address information) printed on the front of the datastorage device. These preprinted data storage devices may be positionedimmediately inside the cover of the printed product. The cover of theprinted product may also be provided with a transparent window such thatwhen the cover is closed, the personalized information printed on thedata storage device is visible through the transparent window. Since theaddress information on the front of the data storage device is visiblethrough the transparent window, the need for on-line address printing iseliminated. In addition, an individual handling a printed product caneasily tell that there is a data storage device within the printedproduct without opening the printed product. It should be understoodthat the data storage devices may be attached to a signature somewherein the printed product other than the signature that is adjacent to thecover, in this regard, the transparent window may then be located on anadjacent signature.

In another form of the invention, personalized information is writtenonto the data storage devices and the data storage devices are loadedinto one of a plurality of hoppers. Personalized information is readfrom the data storage devices and printed products are assembled withpersonalized signatures that correspond to the personalized informationread from the data storage devices (e.g. selectively bound). The datastorage devices may then be attached to one of the signatures in thepersonalized printed product to which it corresponds.

In yet another form of the invention, data storage devices that includepersonalized information written thereon are assembled within theprinted product and then the quality of the printed product is tested byany number of conventionally know techniques. When a particular printedproduct does not pass one of the tests that are conducted, the datastorage device may be removed and the personalized information writtenthereon is read by a data-reading machine such that an appropriatereplacement printed product may be subsequently assembled.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent tothose of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the following detaileddescription, claims and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is schematic diagram of part of a binding line and accompanyingcontrols illustrating the apparatus and method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a portion of a binding line thatincludes a data storage device hopper adapted to write personalizedinformation to a data storage device and to assemble the data storagedevice into a printed product being assembled on the binding line.

FIG. 3 illustrates a cover signature and an adjacent signature assembledaccording to the method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the binding lineand accompanying controls according to the present invention

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a portion of a binding line thatincludes a data storage device hopper adapted to read personalizedinformation from a data storage device and to assemble the data storagedevice into a printed product being assembled on the binding line.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention relates to the assembly of magazines, catalogs,books, pamphlets, and other printed products. In particular, theinvention relates to the assembly of these printed products withpersonalized data storage devices such as CDs and DVDs (commonlyreferred to as optical discs), magnetic media such as floppy disks orcassette tapes, as well as cards carrying magnetic strips. While theteachings of the present invention are applicable to each of the abovementioned situations as well as others, for the sake of brevity andclarity, the invention will be described further below only with respectto the assembly of a personalized compact disc with a magazine.

FIG. 1 discloses a saddle stitch bindery line 10 for assemblingmagazines. The bindery line 10 includes a chain 12 that moves past aplurality of hoppers 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18. As the chain 12 moves pastthe hoppers 14-18, signatures 19 are delivered from the hoppers 14-18either directly onto the chain 12 or over another signature. “Signature”as used herein generically refers to paper pages and/or packaginginserts. The signatures 19 may be selectively fed onto the chain 12 inorder to customize certain magazines as is known in the art. Althoughonly five hoppers are shown delivering signatures to the chain, itshould be understood that most bindery lines include many more hoppers.In addition, any hopper that is well known in the art can be used aspart of the bindery line without departing from the scope of the presentinvention.

The chain 12 is driven by a motor (not shown) that is connected to acontrol system 23. The control system 23 monitors the position of eachmagazine as it is being assembled on the chain 12 as is well known inthe art.

In one form of the invention, personalized information is written (e.g.burned) to a CD 21 by a data-writing machine 20 configured to write datato a CD. The CD writing machine 20 is adapted to provide many differenttypes and amounts of personalization. One example of a suitable CD/DVDwriting machine 20 is the DVD100i drive available from Hewlett-PackardCompany of Palo Alto, Calif. In preferred embodiments, the CD 21 willhave generic information pre-burned onto the CD, in this respect, the CDwriting machine 20 need only write the additional personalizedinformation to the CD 21, thereby reducing the amount of time requiredto personalize the CD 21. In some embodiments, a personalized CD 21 isloaded into a storage area 44 where the CD 21 is stored until needed fora particular magazine. During assembly of the magazines, thepersonalized CDs are loaded into a designated hopper (e.g. hopper 14)from which they are individually selectively deposited into a magazineas directed by the control system 23. One example of a suitable hoppercapable of feeding CDs or other digital storage devices is model no.ST850 available from Streamfeeder of Minneapolis, Minn. In otherembodiments, the CD 21 may be personalized just prior to insertion intoa magazine. For example, a generic CD 21 may be fed to the CD writingmachine 20, personalized, and then fed directly to the binding line forinsertion into a magazine. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,950,401 and 5,634,633disclose methods and apparatus suitable for use with the presentinvention. These patents disclose the packaging of CDs and the securingof such a package to a magazine, the contents of the above patents arehereby incorporated by reference.

The personalized CDs 21 can be part of a personalized magazine, acustomized magazine or a part of a combined customized/personalizedmagazine depending on the desired application. The personalized CDs mayalso be placed into standard magazines.

Once the magazine is assembled, a caliper 26 or other sensor senses thethickness of the magazine and supplies the thickness information to thecontrol system 23. The control system 23 compares the measured thicknesswith a reference thickness in order to determine if the magazine hasbeen appropriately assembled. Properly assembled magazines aretransported to a stitcher 30 where the magazines are stapled beforebeing moved to a conveyor table 32 where the edges are trimmed by atrimmer 34. Trimmed magazines are forwarded to a printing area 35 wherepersonalized address indicia is printed in a designated location on themagazine cover signature using a printer 36. The control system 23directs the printer 36 to print the personalized address indicia on theCD 21 and/or the magazine cover which corresponds to the personalizedinformation that is written to the CD. Magazines that are beingdelivered to a common zip code are typically assembled together inbundles for easy handling by the U.S. Postal Service. It should beunderstood that the personalized address indicia may be printed on theCD and/or the magazine cover while the magazine is still on the bindingline or at some other location, without departing from the scope of thepresent invention.

There are a variety of quality control tests for examining the qualityof the magazines that are assembled on binding lines including, but notlimited to, measuring the thickness of the magazine to determine if anappropriate number of signatures and/or CDs have been inserted into themagazine. As shown in FIG. 1, when a magazine does not pass the qualitycontrol test, rejected magazines are removed from the binding line anddelivered to a data-reading machine 38 configured to read theinformation stored on the CD 21 of the rejected magazine. The CD readingmachine 38 sends information to the control system 23 which subsequentlydirects the assembly system to fabricate a replacement magazine intowhich the CD 21 may be inserted. The replacement magazine may be eitherstandard, customized, personalized, or customized/personalized. After areplacement magazine is ordered, the rejected magazines are sent to astorage area 40 for recycling or disposal. In some embodiments of theinvention, the CD reading machine 38 is not necessary because thecontrol system 23 is able to monitor which magazines have beeninappropriately assembled.

Referring to FIG. 2, the CD writing machine 20 may be combined with oneor more of the hoppers 14-18 such that a specialized hopper 14A iscreated which writes personalized information to one, some, or all ofthe CDs that are stored within the hopper 14. During the bindingoperation, the control system 23 sends a signal to the specializedhopper 14A that directs the hopper 14A to write particular personalizedinformation to a CD 21 and then to deliver the CD 21 to the binding line12 at the appropriate time. Additional specialized CD loading hoppersthat include the ability to read from or write to the CDs 21 may also beplaced along the binding line 12 depending on the assembly application.

The specialized CD loading hoppers are adapted to assemble the CDs intothe magazines in a variety of forms. One form includes a conventionalplow station that separates the signatures 19 so that the CD 21 may beassembled into the magazine at the appropriate time. It should beunderstood that the configuration of the signatures may be adapted to avariety of known configurations in order to facilitate securing the CD21 to the signatures 19. The CD 21 may also be assembled on thesignature prior to being loaded into a hopper.

Referring to FIG. 3, one or more of the personalized CDs 21 may furtherinclude personalized information or indicia printed onto the face 22 ofthe CDs 21. The printing may be done by laser, ink jet or any other typeof printer. One CD 21 is inserted into a pocket 40 that is secured to aportion of a signature 41 which is adjacent to a cover signature 43 ofan assembled magazine. The cover signature 43 includes a transparentwindow 44 that overlies the printed personalized indicia on the face 22of the CD 21 when the CD 21 is positioned within the pocket 40 and thecover signature 43 overlies the adjacent signature 42. It should beunderstood that the personalized indicia may be printed directly ontothe adjacent signature 42 such that the transparent window 44 on thecover signature 43 overlies the personalized indicia making thepersonalized indicia and the CD visible through the transparent window44 when the magazine is closed. The transparent window 44 may beprovided in any signature throughout the magazine. In this respect, thepocket 44 would be formed in an adjacent signature as required tofacilitate viewing of the personalized indicia that is printed on the CDthrough the transparent window 44.

Referring now to FIG. 4, another form of the invention includes adata-reading machine 29 that is adapted to read information stored onone or more CDs 21. The CD reading machine 29 transmits the informationthat is read from the CDs to the control system 23. The above-mentionedDVD 100i drive available from Hewlett-Packard Company is also suitablefor use as the CD reading machine 29. Based on the information deliveredfrom the CD reading machine 29, the control system 23 directs whichsignatures are assembled into respective magazines on the binding line12.

These CDs 21 may be read remotely from the binding line in which casethese CDs are placed into a storage area 32 until they are subsequentlyneeded for placement into appropriate magazines. When it is time forthese CDs 21 to be placed into the appropriate magazines, the CDs 21 aredelivered from storage area 32 to one or more of the hoppers 14-18 forplacement into one or more of the magazines that are assembled on thebinding line 12. An alternative form is shown in FIG. 5 where thepersonalized CDs are delivered directly to one of the hoppers 14-18. Thespecialized hopper 14A is equipped with CD reading machine 29 that readsthe personalized information from the CD 21 and sends the information tothe control system 23. Each CD 21 is then assembled into standard,customized, personalized or customized/personalized magazines. Inaddition, the information read from the CD 21 may be retained by thecontrol system 23 and used to trigger personalized printing on thesignatures, CDs or magazine cover by the printer 36. The signatures canalso be tested, stitched, trimmed, and bundled in a manner similar tothat described above with respect to FIG. 1.

In another form of the invention, the CD 21 may be placed into a queueat one of the hoppers 15-18 that is positioned further down the bindingline. The CD 21 is read while it is being stored in the queue such thatthe control system 23 provides instruction to assemble an appropriatemagazine which is then matched up to the particular CD for assembly intothe proper magazine.

The present invention is not limited to the forms shown and describedabove, alternate forms will be apparent to those skilled in the art andare within the intended scope of the present invention. The formsdescribed herein are further intended to explain the best modes knownfor practicing the invention and to enable those skilled in the art toutilize the invention in such, or other, forms and with variousmodifications required by the particular applications or uses of thepresent invention. It is intended that the appended claims be construedto include alternative forms to the extent permitted by the prior art.

1-6. (canceled)
 7. A method of assembling a printed product on a bindingline comprising: writing personalized electronic information to a datastorage device on the binding line; and associating the written datastorage device with a printed product on the binding line.
 8. The methodof claim 7, wherein the printed product comprises a magazine.
 9. Themethod of claim 7, further comprising binding a personalized signatureinto the printed product on the binding line, wherein the personalizedsignature includes indicia that corresponds to the personalizedinformation written to the data storage device.
 10. The method of claim7, further comprising selectively binding the printed product withdesignated signatures based on the personalized information that iswritten to the data storage device.
 11. The method of claim 7, whereinthe personalized information is written to the data storage device by adata-writing machine.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein thedata-writing machine is part of a hopper positioned on the binding line.13. The method of claim 7, further comprising reading the personalizedinformation from the data storage device on the binding line.
 14. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the personalized information is read from thedata storage device by a data-reading machine that is part of a hopperpositioned on the binding line.
 15. A method of assembling a printedproduct on a binding line comprising: reading electronic information ona binding line from a data storage device that has been pre-personalizedoffline with respect to the binding line; and associating the datastorage device with the printed product on the binding line.
 16. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the printed product comprises a magazine.17. The method of claim 15, and further comprising assembling theprinted product based on the information read from the data storagedevice including binding a personalized signature into the printedproduct that includes personalized indicia that corresponds to theinformation read from the data storage device.
 18. The method of claim15, and further comprising assembling the printed product based on theinformation read from the data storage device including selectivelybinding the printed product with designated signatures based on theinformation read from the data storage device.
 19. The method of claim15, further comprising writing personalized electronic information tothe data storage device on the binding line.
 20. The method of claim 19,wherein the personalized information is written to the data storagedevice by a data-writing hopper positioned on the binding line.
 21. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the information is read from the datastorage device by a data-reading hopper positioned on the binding line.22. The method of claim 15, wherein the information read from the datastorage device comprises personalized information.
 23. An apparatus forassembling printed products comprising: a conveyor; a first feederlocated adjacent the conveyor adapted to feed a data storage devicetoward the conveyor; a data storage device reader adjacent the conveyorand adapted to read the electronic information stored on the datastorage device; a plurality of second feeders located adjacent theconveyor and adapted to feed printed products toward the conveyor; abinder positioned along the conveyor and capable of binding the printedproducts and the data storage device into an assembled product.
 24. Theapparatus of claim 23, further comprising a controller communicatingwith the plurality of second feeders and the data storage device reader,wherein the controller selectively signals the second feeders to feeddesignated printed products toward the conveyor based upon theinformation read from the data storage device, and wherein the datastorage device is associated with the designated printed products on theconveyor.
 25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the information readfrom the data storage device comprises personalized information.
 26. Theapparatus of claim 25, wherein the personalized information includes theaddress of the recipient of the assembled product.
 27. The apparatus ofclaim 23, wherein the printed product comprises a magazine.
 28. Theapparatus of claim 23, further comprising a data writing machineadjacent the conveyor and adapted to write electronic information to theelectronic data storage device.
 29. An apparatus for assembling aproduct comprising: a conveyor; a feeder located adjacent the conveyoradapted to feed an electronic data storage device toward the conveyor; adata writing machine adjacent the conveyor and adapted to writeelectronic information to the electronic data storage device; aplurality of printed product feeders located adjacent the conveyor andadapted to feed printed products toward the conveyor; a binderpositioned along the conveyor and capable of binding the printedproducts and the data storage device into an assembled product.
 30. Theapparatus of claim 29, wherein the assembled product comprises amagazine.
 31. The apparatus of claim 29, further comprising a controllercommunicating with the plurality of printed product feeders and the datawriting machine, wherein the controller selectively signals the printedproduct feeders to feed designated printed products toward the conveyorbased upon the personalized information that is written to the datastorage device, and wherein the data storage device is associated withthe designated printed products on the conveyor.